Excellent video Phil! You hit the nail on the head on every single point. The only thing I've would've added is the legality of scanners/receivers. There's people who believe that they're completely illegal, when that's obviously not the case.
LE in my county has gone encrypted, I can still listen to the FD, other counties next to us are still on conventional VHF. But soon to change any day... But I enjoy listening to business on DMR, NXDN and other systems. They are more of a challenge to figure out who they are, even thou most of them are listed on Radio Reference... And yes my Uniden BCD536HP is the most complicated radio I have ever programmed. Than goodness for Sentinel Program!!! But I am still learning the radio. I have been scanning for over 40 years...
Yes, it’s very frustrating as a listener and I hope some of these states will repeal this encryption like they’re trying to do in California and in Colorado why can’t they just keep the tactical channels encrypted swatch channels, encrypted, and leave the regular dispatch shamus unencrypted I mean that seems so reasonable I think it’s really killing the hobby Because people want to know what’s going on in their own neighborhoods and there’s no transparency and people find out what’s going on when the police want them to find out what’s going on with tweets and Instagram’s just doesn’t seem right
@@bearbullcruising6427 no worries at all, and I didn't mean it as a complaint. It was actually funny 👍. BTW, I have to deal with this encryption at work and can't even understand what my own coworkers are saying. It's terrible even for the users of it.
I got the radioshack 2096....when they went to digital my analog scanners stopped working.....so I went to radioshack and bought the digital scanner....it worked fine for a month....then they started using encrypted channels....I was pissed...I paid $500+ and it would not pick up the police anymore....I gave up on scanners. M scanner saved my life......there was a maniac in my neighbors back yard....she called the police...and told them she seen this guy in her backyard...and he just jumped the fence into my backyard......I heard the police telling a patrol car to go to my house that the suspect was in my backyard.....I was just getting ready to go out into my pole barn when I heard that...if I would have went out the back door and ran into the maniac.....he was carrying a knife....I would probably been killed.
Just discovered this great video. Myth 1 is a pet peeve of mine. So many people lurking on FB scanner groups and chime in to say there is nothing to listen to when newbies ask questions. Maybe they've concluded there is nothing for themselves to listen to but I wish they;d stop the negativity for others.
I’m limited with what I can use antenna wise I used to be able to put up antennas but because of my diminishing eyesight I can’t do that anymore so I’m pretty much left two scanners that are handheld so yes there’s not much for me to listen to, unless I find someone to go mobile with so I am pretty much stuck and not being able to listen to the local police and fire agencies, so there is another side to it
I get it I am totally blind to for HF I would really good Kenwood but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Do you know of any scanners with embedded speech?
@@chadvandam7179 do you know what to tell you the truth I do not only the baofeng radio seem to have a better speech where they let you know information when you’re in the menu section but as for scanners, I don’t believe so. That’s the next thing that Whistler and bearcat should be working on like right now like yesterday is in bed and speech and menus that you can actually hear in the commands.
@@chadvandam7179 only the Baio fang radios I may have spelled it wrong, but those inexpensive two way radios have voice prompts in the menu and read out frequency numbers I do believe I have one, but I haven’t used it in a while but I asked for scanners no such luck unit in, and Whistler need to come up with a scanner that has audible cues for the menus and frequencies that you put into it, but I don’t know how far that is off into the future. Good luck with your scanning.
This sounds like the "shortwave radio is dead" crowd, there's nothing to hear anymore. After my Radio Shack Pro-26 scanner died I thought my scanning days were over. last year I bought the SDR UNO RSPdx as an experiment to see what I could monitor on the airwaves and to my surprise I can hear quite a lot! All the local public service frequencies, AIR band, NOAA, railroads, HAM radio, CB, GMRS and more, plus shortwave! Most of what I hear is not encrypted, there's more than enough to listen to so why bother? Great video, keep promoting the radio hobby, there's always something on the air!
I've read many posts from those bemoaning the encryption of local PD's. Sad situation for sure. Luckily, my local PD (Sheriff's dept) is still unencrypted so it's still fun to listen to. I'm not sure how to recognize encrypted channels. I have an SDS 200 and it is the hardest scanner to get a handle on. I've had it for about four months and have progressed fairly well, but still, it's proving to be a PITA to grasp. Maybe if I had more time to devote to mastering it . . . I started listening to police calls back in the late 50's in Chicago when the police were on analog am radio. All we had to do was tune to the very bottom of the am dial - and there they were! I've lost count of all the scanners I've had since then, like when you had to buy a crystal for each channel.
Great Video Phil I Listen To My Local Fire Department Wich Is Still In The Clear The Police Department Is Encrypted Otherwise There Is Plenty To Listen To All You Have To Do Is Search The Bands Like You Say
My area still uses FM analog. I got two old scanners from a second hand shop, for about ten bucks. What I am missing out on it state patrol, they went to a 700 frequencies band and then set it up as a trunk system. I have never owned a scanner that can allow this band- it used to be a TV audio band. But a lot of the frequencies out here end with a 5 instead of a zero. How do I get those frequencies?
Ha , the book was easier! Put in your channel and done. I still have 3 radio shack pro 33 top of the line 20 channel scanners thst i still use today. Inwish inwoukd have spent the extra money back than and got thr pro. 35 .it had 900 mhz, and a few years later i could have been listening to cell phones!
Maybe its me , but police action is more exciting than hearing " delta 322 drop to 17,000. I will say i search mode is how i found out my neighbor nwas cheating on her husband. ,Thats what u get for talking on thr cell phone with a baby monitor in the room. !!! Keep on scanning!
I am totally blind. It seems like a few of your other commenters are as well. Do you know any skanners That will do embed speech, so they talk to me as I am programming them
With enough searching and time I had every surviellance of local, state and fed channels. Now with a million bucks and a thousand people can't even listen to parking enforcement. As an 17 yr old even cracked the sheriff's homocide scrambler channel by accident. Used an old freq dial box a junky one on my car radio, you could hear 90 percent of conversation. It was the donald duck scrambler in 1976. The biggest trick they would use is talk on dispatch then do secret talk on another channel of nearby agency😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
I was given a scanner decades ago that use crystals heard a lot of stuff so times changed and could not listen to anything, now I would like a scanner again but have no idea what to get, any suggestions? P.S.I am now retired.
I was mystified since with scanning sine I was a young kid looking at the lights and hearing the voices come out of my grandma's old dozen frequency Regency scanner in the 80s.
Depends on what your monitoring, UHF 225-380 military or general aviation frequencies are not encrypted nor are shortwave HF SSB military frequencies on GHFS. Military broadcasts can pop up just about anywhere on scanner or shortwave frequencies, you have to devote a lot of time listening in order to find non encrypted MILCOMS but they're out there.
There's less and less to listen to, and the scanners are more and more expensive. So of course consumers are less willing to continue the hobby. There's really no argument.
Excellent video Phil! You hit the nail on the head on every single point. The only thing I've would've added is the legality of scanners/receivers. There's people who believe that they're completely illegal, when that's obviously not the case.
LE in my county has gone encrypted, I can still listen to the FD, other counties next to us are still on conventional VHF. But soon to change any day... But I enjoy listening to business on DMR, NXDN and other systems. They are more of a challenge to figure out who they are, even thou most of them are listed on Radio Reference... And yes my Uniden BCD536HP is the most complicated radio I have ever programmed. Than goodness for Sentinel Program!!! But I am still learning the radio. I have been scanning for over 40 years...
Yes, it’s very frustrating as a listener and I hope some of these states will repeal this encryption like they’re trying to do in California and in Colorado why can’t they just keep the tactical channels encrypted swatch channels, encrypted, and leave the regular dispatch shamus unencrypted I mean that seems so reasonable I think it’s really killing the hobby Because people want to know what’s going on in their own neighborhoods and there’s no transparency and people find out what’s going on when the police want them to find out what’s going on with tweets and Instagram’s just doesn’t seem right
I'm looking for the Swatch and Shamus buttons on my scanner 😂. Sorry, that must be voice-to-text at work there. Couldn't resist.
@@bendeleted9155 yes I’m visually impaired so it was voice to text my bad
@@bearbullcruising6427 no worries at all, and I didn't mean it as a complaint. It was actually funny 👍. BTW, I have to deal with this encryption at work and can't even understand what my own coworkers are saying. It's terrible even for the users of it.
I got the radioshack 2096....when they went to digital my analog scanners stopped working.....so I went to radioshack and bought the digital scanner....it worked fine for a month....then they started using encrypted channels....I was pissed...I paid $500+ and it would not pick up the police anymore....I gave up on scanners.
M scanner saved my life......there was a maniac in my neighbors back yard....she called the police...and told them she seen this guy in her backyard...and he just jumped the fence into my backyard......I heard the police telling a patrol car to go to my house that the suspect was in my backyard.....I was just getting ready to go out into my pole barn when I heard that...if I would have went out the back door and ran into the maniac.....he was carrying a knife....I would probably been killed.
Just discovered this great video. Myth 1 is a pet peeve of mine. So many people lurking on FB scanner groups and chime in to say there is nothing to listen to when newbies ask questions. Maybe they've concluded there is nothing for themselves to listen to but I wish they;d stop the negativity for others.
I’m limited with what I can use antenna wise I used to be able to put up antennas but because of my diminishing eyesight I can’t do that anymore so I’m pretty much left two scanners that are handheld so yes there’s not much for me to listen to, unless I find someone to go mobile with so I am pretty much stuck and not being able to listen to the local police and fire agencies, so there is another side to it
I get it I am totally blind to for HF I would really good Kenwood but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Do you know of any scanners with embedded speech?
@@chadvandam7179 do you know what to tell you the truth I do not only the baofeng radio seem to have a better speech where they let you know information when you’re in the menu section but as for scanners, I don’t believe so. That’s the next thing that Whistler and bearcat should be working on like right now like yesterday is in bed and speech and menus that you can actually hear in the commands.
Are there any scanners with embedded speech? Which means instead of showing things on the screen it will tell me then?
@@chadvandam7179 only the Baio fang radios I may have spelled it wrong, but those inexpensive two way radios have voice prompts in the menu and read out frequency numbers I do believe I have one, but I haven’t used it in a while but I asked for scanners no such luck unit in, and Whistler need to come up with a scanner that has audible cues for the menus and frequencies that you put into it, but I don’t know how far that is off into the future. Good luck with your scanning.
This sounds like the "shortwave radio is dead" crowd, there's nothing to hear anymore. After my Radio Shack Pro-26 scanner died I thought my scanning days were over. last year I bought the SDR UNO RSPdx as an experiment to see what I could monitor on the airwaves and to my surprise I can hear quite a lot! All the local public service frequencies, AIR band, NOAA, railroads, HAM radio, CB, GMRS and more, plus shortwave! Most of what I hear is not encrypted, there's more than enough to listen to so why bother? Great video, keep promoting the radio hobby, there's always something on the air!
I've read many posts from those bemoaning the encryption of local PD's. Sad situation for sure. Luckily, my local PD (Sheriff's dept) is still unencrypted so it's still fun to listen to. I'm not sure how to recognize encrypted channels. I have an SDS 200 and it is the hardest scanner to get a handle on. I've had it for about four months and have progressed fairly well, but still, it's proving to be a PITA to grasp. Maybe if I had more time to devote to mastering it . . . I started listening to police calls back in the late 50's in Chicago when the police were on analog am radio. All we had to do was tune to the very bottom of the am dial - and there they were! I've lost count of all the scanners I've had since then, like when you had to buy a crystal for each channel.
Oh yes, I remember the local TV shop selling scanner crystals back in the day. Now there's no such thing as "local" TV shop. 😂
@@davidinwashington Or even a local CB or ham radio shop!
Great Video Phil I Listen To My Local Fire Department Wich Is Still In The Clear The Police Department Is Encrypted Otherwise There Is Plenty To Listen To All You Have To Do Is Search The Bands Like You Say
My area still uses FM analog. I got two old scanners from a second hand shop, for about ten bucks. What I am missing out on it state patrol, they went to a 700 frequencies band and then set it up as a trunk system. I have never owned a scanner that can allow this band- it used to be a TV audio band.
But a lot of the frequencies out here end with a 5 instead of a zero. How do I get those frequencies?
Ha , the book was easier! Put in your channel and done. I still have 3 radio shack pro 33 top of the line 20 channel scanners thst i still use today. Inwish inwoukd have spent the extra money back than and got thr pro. 35 .it had 900 mhz, and a few years later i could have been listening to cell phones!
Great video
Maybe its me , but police action is more exciting than hearing " delta 322 drop to 17,000. I will say i search mode is how i found out my neighbor nwas cheating on her husband. ,Thats what u get for talking on thr cell phone with a baby monitor in the room. !!! Keep on scanning!
I am totally blind. It seems like a few of your other commenters are as well. Do you know any skanners That will do embed speech, so they talk to me as I am programming them
How do I contact the staff of Scanner School for tutoring services
With enough searching and time I had every surviellance of local, state and fed channels. Now with a million bucks and a thousand people can't even listen to parking enforcement. As an 17 yr old even cracked the sheriff's homocide scrambler channel by accident. Used an old freq dial box a junky one on my car radio, you could hear 90 percent of conversation. It was the donald duck scrambler in 1976. The biggest trick they would use is talk on dispatch then do secret talk on another channel of nearby agency😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
I was given a scanner decades ago that use crystals heard a lot of stuff so times changed and could not listen to anything, now I would like a scanner again but have no idea what to get, any suggestions? P.S.I am now retired.
I was mystified since with scanning sine I was a young kid looking at the lights and hearing the voices come out of my grandma's old dozen frequency Regency scanner in the 80s.
main reason im holding out sds i got hp 2 and bcn 355
I think Cb is an old man hobby, that's all I hear. I remember the 60's and 70's when teenagers were the most you heard back then.
Encryption is most definitely killing the scanning hobby
Yes encryption is killing it. Everywhere is encrypted now
Maybe where you do but not where I live. I get everything loud and clear.
A
scanner is useless without
police and fire. Period. Myth 1 has ruined it.
Anything military is encrypted
Depends on what your monitoring, UHF 225-380 military or general aviation frequencies are not encrypted nor are shortwave HF SSB military frequencies on GHFS. Military broadcasts can pop up just about anywhere on scanner or shortwave frequencies, you have to devote a lot of time listening in order to find non encrypted MILCOMS but they're out there.
@@radio645if near a base, just scan the ranges and leave it on - you'll find stuff
There's less and less to listen to, and the scanners are more and more expensive. So of course consumers are less willing to continue the hobby. There's really no argument.